Roping the Rancher (Harlequin American Romance) (12 page)

“That’s perfect. You can have a good time with both of you knowing nothing else can come of it. That’s a great way for you to get your feet wet.”

“What about Jess? She got attached to Avery pretty quick when you two started dating. What if she does the same with Stacy? I don’t know if she could take getting close to Stacy and then having her leave.”

“If you’re worried about Jess dealing with it, talk with her.”

“Talk with my teenage daughter about my dating a woman? That’s just what I need.”

“You’re thinking too much. Jess knows Stacy isn’t sticking around, right?” Colt nodded. “Then it shouldn’t be a problem. Trust me on this. What harm could having a little fun do?”

Somehow Colt didn’t think things would be that simple.

* * *

“Y
OU
DON
’
T
HAVE
to help clean up, Stacy,” Avery said once Colt and Reed left. “You’re a guest. Mom and I can handle it.”

She didn’t want to be a guest.

When she’d said how Travis wouldn’t let her leave the dance floor, both women understood what she’d felt. Compassion had filled their eyes, and Nannette had shown a mother’s concern. Would Andrea have cared if she knew what happened at Halligan’s? Really cared about her and how scared she’d been? Something told Stacy all Andrea would’ve been more concerned about was how to turn what happened into a publicity op.

Her heart skipped a beat. She wanted to belong.

“Helping will give me a chance to apologize to both of you for the way I acted the last time I was in town,” Stacy said as she followed the women into the kitchen.

“No hard feelings.” Nannette carried plates to the sink. “Griffin was as much to blame for what happened on that show as anyone else.”

“You’re right about that,” Avery added. “If he’d told Maggie he loved her before the finale, things would’ve been so much better.”

“He wasn’t ready to admit that then.” Nannette turned to Stacy, a glint in her eye as if she were about to share a secret. “My children can be a little hardheaded.”

“Mom, I’m right here.”

“I know you are, dear.” Nannette kissed her daughter on the cheek. “I love you, but you know I’m right.”

Love filled the small kitchen as it had at the dinner. Deep. Constant. Unfailing. Stacy looked away.

“I wasn’t being hardheaded. I was being cautious with Reed.” Avery pointed to the stove. “Would you hand me that pot, Stacy?”

She nodded and retrieved the item. “I’m glad things worked out for Griffin and Maggie. When I’ve seen them together on the set they seem very happy. Now that’s the only way to find love on a reality show and have it last.”

“I was right,” Avery said, a huge grin on her face. “I never thought you were on that silly show expecting to find love.”

“How anyone who watches that show can expect couples to stay together longer than the time it takes to boil water is beyond me,” Nannette added.

“You’d be surprised how many people believe that’s really why I went on the show.” She explained about how she’d needed to revive her career.

“You’ve changed since you were here before,” Avery said.

Lately, she felt as if that was a lifetime ago. “My life’s different than it was then.” When she’d met Avery and Nannette her career had been everything. Andrea’s second husband had taken her to the cleaners, and she’d turned to retail therapy to cope. The money flew out faster than the Concord, and Andrea started having trouble paying her bills. Feeling the added financial pressure to supplement her mother’s finances to keep a roof over Ryan’s head, Stacy needed the steady income a series offered. Then Ryan had the accident and he moved in with her. Things like that changed a woman fast. “
I
was different then.”

“What do you think of Colt?” Nannette asked as she wiped the kitchen counter.

What a complicated question.

No, it wasn’t. The answer was simple.
He’s wonderful. Honest, dependable and sexier than a man had a right to be.

“He’s a great father, and he’s helping Ryan so much. The work he does at Healing Horses has amazed me. He’s really making a difference in people’s lives.”

“That’s not an answer to the question. I asked what
you
thought of
him.
” Nannette’s knowing gaze drilled into Stacy.

Too bad. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

“He’s a good man. I was thankful he was there at Halligan’s.”

“He got that from his mother. She was a good woman.” Nannette shook her head. “I still can’t believe we didn’t know what hell those boys went through after their mother died.”

Avery explained how Colt and Reed’s mother died after falling down the stairs when Colt was twelve. Before her death, their mother shielded her sons from her husband’s temper and his fists as much as she could. “Reed told me Colt could let a lot of what their dad said and did slide, but Reed always argued with their father. That made things worse. Colt was the one who calmed the disagreements down or stepped in when things got really bad between Reed and his dad. Reed swears Colt kept the two of them from killing each other.”

The strength of character it took to survive what life dumped on Colt astounded her. No wonder he protected Jess so fiercely, and no wonder he’d been so appalled by getting into a fight. An abusive father, an unfaithful wife, a tour in Afghanistan where who knows what horrors he’d witnessed, and none of that broke him. The fact that he still possessed a kindness, a gentleness, spoke of his nature, and now she understood why his eyes sometimes held the look of an old soul.

She’d started falling down a slippery slope with Colt. She couldn’t help admire him, but she couldn’t think about what it would be like to have a man of such strength, such courage in her life. She couldn’t imagine him as a soft place to fall when life left her battered and bruised, because if she did, it would be so easy to fall in love with Colt.

And that she refused to do.

Chapter Ten

After cleaning the kitchen everyone congregated in the living room where the teenagers had started playing video games with Colt and Reed watching.

“I hate to be the one to end the party, but I had an early-morning shoot today, and it’s catching up with me.”

Ryan and Jess paused their game and started complaining.

“Do we have to leave? It’s Friday night...”

“It’s only ten o’clock.”

“To avoid an inevitable heated discussion or pulling rank, I’ll take Stacy home,” Colt said.

Then Nannette said she would drop the teenagers off when she left. That settled, he and Stacy headed for the car.

After two minutes of silence in the car, Colt turned to her. “Did something happen in the kitchen?”

“We just talked girl talk while we cleaned up. Nothing major.”

Nothing other than I realized how easily I could get attached to you and your family and had a mini panic attack.

Heady and dangerous stuff. The night had been eye-opening and exhausting. Being part of the Montgomery/McAlister clan had been overwhelming and wonderful, but now came time to face reality again. While she could enjoy belonging for the night, that was all she could have. She had a life and responsibilities. Ones that didn’t mesh with life in Colorado.

“I’m sorry Reed brought up what happened at Halligan’s. I know it made you uncomfortable. He was so busy getting his digs in at me, he didn’t see that.”

“I wish you’d let me pay for your fines.”

“We closed that discussion.”

No, he had. She decided not to push the issue. She could always make an anonymous donation to Healing Horses to balance the scales with him when her finances leveled out.

“You don’t have to go to the auction.”

“Ryan sounded so excited about going. I’d hate to disappoint him.”

“Just because you don’t go doesn’t mean he can’t tag along with me and Jess.”

“I really shouldn’t go. I haven’t had a chance to learn the changes in my lines for tomorrow night’s shoot.” Who was she trying to convince, him or her? Tonight had taught her a lesson. Friendship with Colt wouldn’t be easy. Or satisfying. It was like trying to eat half a cookie. The little taste only left her wanting the whole treat.

“I understand. Work has to come first. I’ll have Jess text Ryan about picking him up. You’ll have the day to yourself.”

As she jumped out of Colt’s truck she realized she’d made the sensible choice deciding not to attend the auction. No use pressing her face against the store window when she couldn’t afford to buy anything. Doing that only made her ache for what she couldn’t have, but if she’d made the right decision, how come she felt so lousy?

* * *

A
FTER
THE
DINNER
at Avery and Reed’s, Stacy flipped a switch inside her head. She refused to get attached to Colt and Jess.

Instead of chatting and joking with him before the session started, she helped Ryan prepare. At first Colt appeared confused by her reserved attitude and tried to tease her out of it. He tried so hard to get her to talk to him. He’d even gone so far as to ask her why she’d changed. She’d fobbed him off with a lame comment about having a lot on her mind. The wounded look in his soft gaze nearly did her in, but eventually he quit trying, and that left her feeling even worse. What had she expected? That he’d fling her over his shoulder, carry her off and demand she tell him what was going on?

Despite days of rain putting them behind schedule, Stacy was pleased with how the movie was going. Colt had been right. Becoming more comfortable around horses improved her performance. She felt more at ease and identified with her character better, resulting in what she felt was her best work.

Now to catch up and avoid added financial costs, Maggie lengthened their filming hours, leaving Stacy with little time for anything other than work and Ryan’s therapy. That meant they didn’t go into town much and helped her avoid running into Colt.

The only good thing to occur over the past few weeks was the amazing physical progress Ryan had made. His balance and control of his legs improved enough that for short periods of time he’d traded the walker for a cane. The hope was with continued horsemanship and physical therapy and a lot of hard work he could eventually get rid of the walker completely.

Remembering what she’d learned about Colt from Avery and Nannette strengthened her resolve to keep her promise to Jess. About keeping her and Colt’s relationship on the friendship level, but oh, how the man invaded her dreams, and not in a friendship way.

This morning she woke up from a doozie. In this one instead of Jess interrupting them the night of the fight at Halligan’s, she and Colt continued their romantic play. They explored each other’s bodies until they both lay naked together on the couch. Just as he’d been about to enter her fevered flesh, Stacy woke up, disappointed and aching.

To top off her day, the shoot had run long, forcing her to call Colt to ask if they could push back Ryan’s therapy a half an hour. After a lecture about this being her one free pass and she’d better not ask to reschedule again, he agreed. If she hurried, she’d have time to grab takeout for her and Ryan. They could sit, eat and catch up before they headed to Colt’s. They hadn’t done much of that lately.

“Stacy, I need to talk to you in my office before you leave,” Maggie called out.

“Sure thing. I’ll be there in a minute.” So much for getting to sit and eat with Ryan before his therapy. She pulled out her phone and texted her brother to make some mac and cheese or something for his dinner because she was running way late.

Maggie and Griffin lived in a simple wood-and-brick, ranch-style house they’d just built on the far edge of Twin Creeks Ranch. When she’d settled into the wing chair across from Maggie’s desk, the director slid script pages across the smooth walnut surface. “We’ve had to make some changes to the scene where Brandon’s character notifies you that the bank is threatening to foreclose on his ranch.”

Script changes happened all the time, but the director never called an actor into the office to discuss them unless the alterations were substantial, or she thought the actor would balk at the modifications.

Stacy’s hands shook as she picked up the papers and scanned the sheets. Instead of informing her in the living room, they’d changed the scene to outdoors. She was to be working on the ranch, on a horse when her boyfriend rides up on a four-wheeler.

“I hate to do this to you, knowing what happened to your dad, and especially since we talked about this before filming, but the scene has so much more impact this way.”

Stacy nodded, her entire body numb as she tried to absorb the shock. Walking beside a horse to help Ryan in his therapy sessions was one thing. Crawling on top of one was something else entirely.

“If you absolutely can’t get on a horse, we can use a stunt woman and editing can mix those shots with close-ups of you.”

Stacy clasped her hands together in her lap to keep them still. She was being silly. All she had to do was sit on the horse and then dismount when she saw her boyfriend arriving. Simple, but her mind couldn’t help but dredge up memories of the shoot with her father so long ago. Cannons blasted. Horses reared. Her father tumbled to the ground. She pinched her eyes shut and tried to shove aside her memories. An image of Colt smiling at her with pride when she’d accepted the lead rope from him came to her.

“I’d prefer not to do the scene that way, but if we have to we can.” Maggie’s calm voice pulled Stacy back.

Volunteering at Healing Horses had taught her she had nothing to fear. This was a different movie. This wouldn’t be a battle scene with loud noises and gun blasts. She could do this.

“I’m willing to try, but can I ask for a couple of things?”

“Anything.”

“Can we keep the crew to a minimum?”

Maggie nodded.

What else did she need to be able to pull this off?

Colt.

“I’d like Colt Montgomery to be there, and for him to pick the horse for me to ride. He trained me to be a volunteer in his therapy program.” He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. “I’d also like him to talk to the crew about what can make a horse skittish. That’s why my dad died. The loud noises spooked the horse.”

“I think that’s a great idea. I can call Colt tonight.”

No, she needed to ask him to do this. She needed to see in his eyes that he knew she could handle this. She needed his calm reassurance that he would keep her safe. “I’ll see him in a little while at Ryan’s therapy. I’ll ask him.”

“The plan is to shoot the scene on Saturday.”

Stacy nodded. Today was Thursday. Part of her wished she had more time to prepare, but then she’d only have more time to worry. Colt would make sure nothing went wrong.

If he agreed to help her. As she left Maggie’s office and headed to her car Stacy nibbled on her lower lip. How could she ask him to do this for her when she’d all but ignored him lately? Especially when he’d looked at her so often with that old-soul look filling his gaze?

I hadn’t wanted to hurt him, but I’ve done just that.

And now she planned on asking for his help. She’d be lucky if he’d even talk to her.

* * *

R
YAN
’
S
THERAPY
SESSIONS
had become torture for Colt. He’d missed Stacy. Talking with her. Joking around. Just being with her. He hadn’t realized how much he looked forward to seeing her each week until their relationship changed after the dinner at Reed and Avery’s house. He’d replayed the night over in his head, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out what could’ve spooked her.

Part of him wanted to know what happened, what caused her to shut down on him. When he’d asked a couple of weeks ago, she’d out-and-out lied and told him nothing was wrong, confusing him even more. Her open and honest nature was one of the things he admired about her. Why would she start pulling punches now? Common sense told him to quit digging, because sometimes it was better not knowing, but he couldn’t let go.

Today was even worse. Not only did she seem distant, she appeared as skittish as a new foal. Ryan’s session dragged on, but Colt managed to get through it. When they reached the barn, Jess stood waiting. She and Ryan had become almost inseparable, and whenever he had therapy she met him and together they groomed Chance.

When Colt turned to leave, anxious to escape the tension surrounding him and Stacy, she said, “Could we talk for a minute?”

He froze at the sound of her voice. “I take it this means you’re talking to me again.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry. Our shooting schedule’s been grueling lately. I’ve been tired and haven’t been myself.”

The silence he could take, but not the lying. He expected better of her. He was done playing games and pussy footing around the situation. “That’s crap and we both know it. What’s really going on? Do I have BO or bad breath?”

She smiled at his teasing. She had the best smile.

“Can we just forget it and go back to being friends?”

Having her in his life as a friend was better than this damned polite-acquaintances crap. If that was true, then how come his stomach fell when she’d said the words? “I didn’t know we’d stopped being friends.”

“Good. I’m glad that’s settled.” Stacy shifted her stance and her head bobbed up and down like a bobble-head doll. What was going on? “I was also wondering if your offer to go riding was still open.”

Something was up. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that. This time he had to know. “What changed your mind?”

Guilt flashed in her expressive eyes. “I need your help.”

His heart sank like a rock tossed into a pond, sending ripples of disappointment through him. He’d been silly to think Stacy changed her mind because she wanted to be with him. Instead she’d asked to go back to the way things were because she needed something from him, and that hurt like a kick in the teeth from an angry stallion.

That’s what had kept him and Lynn together so long. She’d needed him. She’d never been on her own. She went from being her parents’ daughter to his wife. He took care of everything. As a baby, when Jess got fussy, he spent hours rocking her because Lynn got impatient and frustrated. When Lynn became unhappy with her job at the real-estate management company when a new manager took over, he took on extra work as a hand at Charlie Logan’s ranch so she could quit. Then after she’d left him, she’d wanted to come home because she needed someone to take care of her again.

But Stacy’s actions hurt even more because she’d always been so open with him.

“Maggie gave me a script change today. I’ve got to sit on a horse for a scene. I told her I could do it, but now I’m not so sure, and I certainly don’t want the first time I get on a horse to be the day we’re filming the scene.”

He thought about telling Stacy he couldn’t help her. That’s what he should do.

He couldn’t fret about her. He had his daughter to worry about and a therapy program that could financially fall apart at any time. He needed more responsibility like he needed a hole in his work boots.

“I’d like you to talk to the crew. Tell them how to act around horses and what makes them skittish. I know I’m asking a lot, but would you select the horse for me to ride?” Fear darkened her eyes to the color of a cold mountain spring, but she stubbornly pointed her delicate chin in the air as if she refused to let her emotions get the best of her.

All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her until the fear went away.

“I can pick out your horse. The rest will take time away from my work here.”

“I’ll pay you for your time.” She inched closer. Her subtle floral scent swirled around him bringing with it memories of when he’d held her. “I know what happened to my dad was a fluke, just one of those weird times when everything goes wrong and someone gets hurt, but I’m so scared. The real reason I want you to be there when we shoot the scene is I’d feel so much better if you were there. I know you won’t let anything happen to me. I don’t trust anyone but you to keep me safe. Please.”